The government stand accused of not releasing money to fund building upgrades in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire.

A report by the Press Association found that several councils had been frustrated in their efforts to upgrade high-rise blocks in the wake of the June 14 fire.

One such case uncovered in the report was Nottingham City Council - its leader said their request for funding for retro-fitting sprinkler systems was deemed “additional rather than essential” by the DCLG.

It’s a worrying sign for North East councils who have expressed their intention to carry out work to buildings to make sure they’re as safe as they can be.

Cruddas Park House

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) insisted it had not declined any requests for funding but had asked local authorities for more details about their plans.

Following the deadly June 14 blaze, The Chronicle called on central government to provide financial assistance to councils who wanted to carry out work to keep our high-rise residents safe.

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They have already had to remove cladding from five high rise blocks and say they intend to install sprinklers as part of future upgrades.

Conan McKinley, deputy director of asset strategy, said: “Gentoo has made a commitment to look at installing sprinkler systems as part of our future refurbishment programmes in our tower blocks and we are also currently drawing up draft plans to replace our panels.

“We will continue to work closely with Sunderland City Council and Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service to ensure work to replace the panels is complete as quickly

as possible, whilst also complying with any new regulations.

“We are reviewing the costs for this work now and will be covering this within our existing budgets.”

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Gateshead and South Tyneside have not had to carry out any work to remove and replace cladding and have not announced any plans to retro-fit sprinklers but have signalled they are open to the idea based on the findings of the ongoing public inquiry into the disaster.

A DCLG spokesperson told the Press Association: “Where a local authority has concerns about funding essential fire safety measures, they should contact DCLG as soon as possible to discuss their position.”